Terra
by yumihat
Summary: After aiding in an investigation of a group of serial kidnappers, Minato Arisato finds himself taking care of a small child named Terra. However, he soon realizes that this teenage girl is very strange and clueless, to say the least. Plus, as if caring for a girl who doesn't know what a cafe is wasn't hard enough, a serial killer is making his mark on Inaba yet again.
1. Chapter 1: Flashback

_Alrighty! Serious story time! If you've been reading my stuff, you probably know by now that I don't usually write serious, long stories. But hey! I figured, why not give it a go? __So, i'm giving it a go! :)_

**_WARNING! There is some stuff that I plan on putting in later that are a bit...I'm not sure what the word is...Not for the kiddies, I guess? Yeah, let's go with that. But don't worry, I'll try to warn you about the chapter's contents before hand._**

_So, yeah! Here ya go!_

* * *

Once upon a time, a small five-year-old girl was riding in a car with her single, loving father. It was late at night, almost midnight in fact, and the moon was full and brightly looming over the stars. Although it was extremely late, the little girl was too full of energy to even think about sleeping. She curiously examined her dark surroundings through the car window. For some strange reason, she felt that her eyes were glued to the large moon above her. According to her father, the bridge they were driving over was named "Moonlight Bridge" and the little girl could see where it had gotten its name.

"You awake still, sweetie?" The girl's father asked in a soft tone from the seat in front of her.

"Yep!" She energetically replied, not tearing her eyes away from the moon.

"It's quiet back there. You okay?" Her father asked.

"Yeah...Just looking at the sky." The girl muttered, obviously more interested in the large floating orb than the conversation.

Her father chuckled. "It's pretty, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." The girl muttered under her breath.

"Almost as pretty as you." Her father added with a smile.

"Is Mommy as pretty as I am?" The child asked.

The father's smile shrunk. "Not quite." He mumbled quietly.

"Why not?" The curious child asked.

"She isn't pretty on the inside like you are...You're both certainly pretty on the outside. She's just...not on the inside..." Her father quietly explained. The child couldn't fully understand what he had meant at the time, but he knew that she would eventually understand.

The girl finally managed to turn her eyes away from the moon to look at the back of her father's head. "Daddy...Why doesn't my mom love me?"

"She...She loves you...Sweetie..." The choked-up father assured, trying to smile.

"Why did she leave then? Does she hate you?" The girl continued to ask.

"No...We love each other...very much..." He answered, about to cry.

"Why'd she leave then?" The girl repeated. The father's eyes were blinded by tears. He couldn't see the road through the darkness of the night and the salty liquid that blinded him.

Another car steadily moved in an opposite direction toward their car. The little girl felt that something was wrong and could only mutter one word before the two cars collided. "Daddy...!"

The girl was left unconscious for a good couple of minutes before she woke up to the sound of a stranger's voice. "Hey! Are you okay?! Wake up!" A boy's voice commanded. She felt a small tug on her arm as the boy continued to beg for her to wake up. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the boy who was about her age. A small groan of pain exited her mouth as she felt her own blood stream down her face from a gash on her head. The boy watched her painfully struggle to look at him with an uneasy expression on his face. The boy looked into the girl's scared, purple eyes as she looked into his calm, blue eyes. "You okay?" The boy quietly questioned bellow a whisper. The girl nodded slightly. The boy reached over her waist and unbuckled her seatbelt. The girl's body limply fell from the car and into his arms. "You sure you're okay?" He asked.

"My head just hurts a little..." She quietly responded. "Are you okay?"

"I...I think so..." The boy quietly mumbled. "Can you stand?" He asked. The girl nodded and the boy slowly helped her to her feet. The girl steadied herself and looked at the car her father had hit.

"Were you in that car?" She questioned. The boy nodded silently. "Who was with you?" She asked.

"My parents..." He answered. Before the girl could say anything else, she suddenly felt faint. Her body collapsed under her weight and the boy once again caught her. He sat her down on the road and crouched down in front of her. He touched her forehead with his hand. The girl shrieked in pain and he moved his hand away. "We need to put some pressure on that..." He muttered quietly.

"It hurts..." The girl stated.

"I know...You just have to trust me here, okay?" The girl hesitated, but nodded. The boy took off his white shirt and wrapped it around her forehead. The girl screamed again in pain. "It's okay...Calm down..." He whispered quietly. The girl began to cry silently and clutch her teeth. The boy tied his shirt around her forehead tightly and grabbed the crying girl's hand. She squeezed his blood-covered hand tightly and wiped her tears away with her arm. "Feel better...?" He asked. The girl sniffled and nodded slowly, unsure why she felt better when the stranger grabbed her hand.

The duo slowly stood up and their gazes met the car the boy was in. The boy began to tear up. The girl grabbed his hand again and he squeezed hers. "Feel better?" She asked. The boy nodded, wiping away his tears with his arm.

"I think that we're the only ones that..." The boy quietly muttered, not able to finish his own statement.

"Lived...?" The girl finished quietly. The boy nodded sadly in response. "That's not true. My daddy was in the car with me." She argued.

"I know, I saw him when I went to wake you up. I think he's..."

"He isn't. He can't be. He's my dad. He can't die." The girl muttered as if to persuade herself that he was okay. The male put his hands on her shoulders.

"Listen to me." He commanded. The girl shook her head in denial as tears streaked down her face once again. "Listen!" He yelled to the hysterical child. She sniffled and looked up at him. "He's gone. My parents are gone too but-"

"But?! They're dead!" She screamed."It should've been me..." She quietly murmured.

"...Calm down. It isn't the end of the world. We're still alive and now we have to live for them." The boy calmly assured. The girl didn't wipe her tears, knowing that more would appear anyway.

"...Okay...Okay...You're right..." She agreed. "...Um...What's your name?" She asked.

The boy's eyes softened from a serious glare to a sympathetic look. "My name's-" The sound of police sirens interrupted him. The duo stood still, watching as ambulances and police officers surrounded them, immediately rushing to the crashed cars. The little girl stood still in fear. The boy grabbed her shaking hand and stroked her hair calmly with his other hand. He knew the girl was scared and he had cared deeply for the stranger and was willing to do anything to make her happy, despite the small amount of time they had seen each other.

One police man looked at the children and picked up his walkie-talkie. "Can I get an ambulance here? There are two survivors and one seems to be injured."

"Everything's fine...no need to be scared..." The boy whispered gently to the frightened girl.

"What are they going to do with us?" She asked in a quiet tone.

"I don't know..." The boy muttered.

"How do you know that everything's fine?" The girl questioned, her voice shaking as she spoke.

"Just trust me." He replied. "You trust me, don't you?" He asked. The girl stared at his serene, blue eyes as tears fell down her face. Her father had always taught her not to talk to strangers. This boy seemed genuinely nice, though. Can she really trust this boy? This caring, nameless child?

After much thought, she hesitatingly hugged him tightly, muffling her face into his chest. She rose her head to once again look at his calm face. His hand rose and wiped away a few of her falling tears. A short silence left the two in thought. "We...We will see each other again, right...?" The girl quietly asked.

The boy, not able to tell the future, placed some thought into the question. He kissed her forehead gently and smiled. "Yes. I promise that we will meet again. When we do, I will be there for you, no matter what." The boy assured sweetly. The girl blushed in disbelief and hugged him tighter.

"Will you tell me your name when we meet again?" The girl asked with plenty of hope in her small voice.

The boy chuckled. "I will. I promise."


	2. Chapter 2: Anger

Her stiff body ached as if she had slept on the cold, hard floor. Her bed might as well have been stuffed with sharp, pointy rocks. She let out a drowsy yawn and continued to follow the man in the white lab coat in silence. She painfully forced her feet to move down the white and shiny halls. She knew what awaited her, and she didn't want to go, but if she refused to comply to their commands, they'd kill her or even worse.

So she followed obediently, the feeling that her pain stricken body could collapse any moment and with the fear of knowing exactly what would happen to her.

The man in the white coat slid a card on a panel next to a door. The door granted the man permission to enter and slid open. She went into the room first, desperate to get this over with. The man followed her in and finally gave her permission to sit down on a doctor's examination table. She did as told and looked at the scientist as he sat down in a swivel chair across from her. Her feet nervously kicked the air in hopes that they would stop hurting eventually.

The man pushed up his glasses and picked up a small light. "Alright now, open wide." He commanded. The girl did as told and opened her mouth. The man shone the light in her mouth and examined her. Then, he turned in the chair and wrote some stuff down. He returned to the girl, this time holding a small mallet. He gently tapped the girl with it, making her involuntarily kick. She had wished that the man wasn't smart enough to move out of her kicking range. He turned around and once again jotted some more information down.

He stood up and inspected her eyes, lifting her eyelids and looking closely at them until her eyes were as dry as a desert. When he finally turned to write, she blinked several times and rubbed her eyes, hoping to return the moisture into her eyes.

"Alright, Subject Number 3...You look healthy enough...Anything bothering you?" The man questioned.

So many things were bothering her. A countless number of things. Did she say any of it though? No, of course not. She is just a lab rat. She doesn't deserve a voice. She just shook her head, like the obedient rat that she was.

"I see..." The man muttered, writing her response down. "How are your powers?"

She hated how he called them powers. They weren't some wonderful ability that only a handful of people had. It was a curse that they had been given against their will from a syringe. "They're okay." She mumbled quietly.

More writing, more silence. The man turned towards her again and stood up. "Alright, Subject Number 3, it's test time." He happily stated as if she didn't know what test time meant. As if it were a good thing.

She once again followed the man down the white hallway, her body feeling less achy. He led her into a huge white room. She was commanded to stand on the opposite side of the room and to wait for someone else to enter the room. She obediently stood on the opposite side, her aching body desperately wanting to collapse under her weight. She stared at the door, waiting patiently for the stranger to enter the room.

After a long moment of silence, the door finally opened. A small, smiling girl entered the room. She examined the strange girl's appearance. She looked like she was fifteen, her scrawny and pale body looked so skinny that you could probably see her bones. She had long, black hair that almost touched the floor. Her eyes were both different colors. Her right eye was blue, the left red.

The teenager could feel the woman's eyes on her, scanning her appearance closely. The small girl first took note of the woman's age. She was in her early twenties and her appearance showed that. Her black hair fell to her back. It looked like she hadn't bothered to brush it today. The small girl couldn't stop staring at the woman's eyes. Her bright purple eyes. She couldn't look away from them and couldn't find a reason to be so attracted to her eyes. Sure, it was a strange eye color and the girl had never seen purple eyes like hers, but she felt a feeling that she had never experienced before while staring into those purple orbs-pure anger.

Those purple, hellish, fearful, eyes stared at the small girl, wondering what on earth had made her so upset all of a sudden. The small girl's hands curled up into tight fists. Her teeth clenched so tightly, it looked like her jaw would snap.

Why was this girl so angry? What did she ever do to her?! They hadn't seen or spoken to each other before...! Had they...? No. She'd definitely remember seeing the girl's mix-matched eyes. So why is she so upset? She didn't do anything!

"Subject Number 3, your orders are to injure Subject Number 2. Subject Number 2, you are ordered to injure Subject Number 3. Use your powers to harm the other person, but remember, no killing and no torturing." A scientist commanded from a loudspeaker. Both girls knew that a group of scientists were watching them and were either recording a voice tape of what was happening, or were recording them with an actual camera. However, only one of the girls found this disturbing. "You may now begin."

The small teenager was the first to leap at the sound of those words. Her red eye glowed and her fist was engulfed in fire. She wore the same angry and hateful expression on her face. "Burn in hell!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, throwing fire balls at the older woman.

Not wanting to be burned, the woman's purple eyes glowed and a black cloud of darkness surrounded her. She shaped the cloud into a shield and took a defensive pose, watching the fireballs hit the shield and disappear.

The small girl glared at the woman. "Why won't you just die?!" The girl screamed, throwing more fireballs.

The fireballs once again hit her shield, but the force she used to throw them this time was stronger than the other ones. The woman felt her feet slide backwards with each fireball. Eventually, the woman's shield disappeared and she was left defenseless.

The teen smiled wickedly, seeing that her only line of defense was gone. "Hahaha! I got you now!" She laughed. Her blue eye glowed and a huge water ball formed in her hand. She threw the water at the woman, who was too scared to react. The water ball separated into five rings and hit the woman, sending her to the wall. The rings restrained the woman's neck, arms, and feet, making her unable to move. The teenager slowly and calmly walked toward the woman, staring at her with cold, distant eyes. She stopped about a foot away from the helpless woman.

The woman felt a few tears escape her eyes as the evil girl stared her down. "Why? What did I ever do to you?!" She screamed loudly.

"What did you do...? You should know what you've done! You know what you did, and you deserve hell for it!" The girl squealed. Upon closer inspection, the woman could see a few tears leaving the girl's blue and red eyes as well. Did she really mean what she was saying?

"I've never seen you before, what could I possibly do to you?!" The woman questioned.

The girl looked down sadly and mumbled something. The purple-eyed woman couldn't make out a single word. The girl's hands were once again lit on fire and the evil look on her face returned. The woman helplessly looked down and let her body go limp.

"Go ahead." She simply muttered. "Go ahead and kill me. Burn me to death." She commanded submissively. The girl tilted her head to the side slightly as the woman continued to speak. "...But I still have no idea what I've done to hurt you. If you kill me now, I'll never know what I did. Is it really revenge if I don't know what I've done?" She calmly questioned.

"What do you mean?" The girl quietly asked.

"It wouldn't be revenge, I'd just be some meaningless, savage, murder." The woman explained. "...And you would have to live the rest of your life being called a murderer and having to deal with what you've done." She muttered. The girl's tears fell harder. "You're still young. You have about sixty long years ahead of you. I don't think you really want to do this." The woman stated. The girl cried even harder, the same evil glare piercing the woman's soul. "...But if you really want that, go ahead and kill me."

The only thing that could be heard was the screams of bloody murder the older woman released.


	3. Chapter 3: Old Friend

Pi! Pi! Pi!

"Uhg..." Minato let a small, tired groan exit his lips. He just wanted to sleep. That was his only wish.

Pi! Pi! Pi!

His phone sang loudly once again. Minato involuntarily growled at his phone as he placed the pillow over his head, hoping to muffle the noise.

Pi! Pi! Pi!

He sat up, angrily tossing the pillow across his room. How dare someone interrupt his glorious nap? He thought to himself as he lazily lifted his phone to his ear. "...Hello?" He drowsily breathed.

"Arisato?" A voice questioned from the other line. "Minato Arisato?"

Minato scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. I'm Minato Arisato. Why?" He asked, praying for the phone call to end so he could lie back down.

"This is Mitsuru Kirijo." The voice introduced. Minato's lazy heart sped up and his eyes grew wide as if the name "Mitsuru Kirijo" had shot some caffeine into his system.

"Mitsuru?" He questioned in disbelief. "We haven't spoken in forever." He muttered quietly, looking down at his kicking feet.

"Y-Yes...I apologize...But-"

"I understand that you have to take care of the Kirijo Group on your own but, even a phone call would've been nice." Minato commented.

Mitsuru sighed. "Yes...I know..." Mitsuru breathed.

"Mitsuru...You aren't working too hard, are you?" Minato questioned, his concern showing in his voice.

"I can handle it." Mitsuru simply answered. Minato could picture her smirk on the other side of the phone. Mitsuru always looked so mature, even when she laughed at the stupidest jokes that Junpei and himself cracked.

Then Minato's mental image of her morphed into something new. A new face. The Mitsuru Kirijo he had met in high school was probably so grown up now. Even her voice sounded more mature than he remembered it. She's such an adult...

In a desperate attempt to change the subject in order to stop feeling inferior to her, Minato spoke before she could say anything else about how long it had been. "So...Um...Why did you call me?"

"O-Oh...Right." Mitsuru awkwardly replied. "Could you visit me at my house? I'll text you the directions."

"Your house? Why?" He questioned.

"I'll tell you when you get here. Could you also bring Iori and Akihiko with you? You still talk to them, correct?" Mitsuru asked.

Minato nervously rubbed his head. "Um...Yeah...We are actually roommates now so...yeah..." He awkwardly replied.

"I-I see..." A hint of disappointment and regret could be heard in her voice. She must feel horrible for not being able to communicate with her high school friends.

"Don't worry. I'll pick them up from their jobs and we can catch up when we get there." Minato assured.

"A-Alright. See you soon then."

"See ya." Minato casually said. He hung up the phone and placed it back on the table next to his bed and fell back onto his bed. "All I wanted to do was sleep...That's it...Is that really too much to ask? Even after I saved the world?!"


	4. Chapter 4: Junpei

"Wait...Mitsuru called you? As in Mitsuru Kirijo, from high school?" Junpei questioned, just as shocked as Minato that she contacted him.

"Yep. She wants us to go to her house." Minato explained.

A woman who was holding a small child walked up to the checkout station Junpei was running. The woman struggled to reach into her cart and pull out the items. Afterall, it's difficult to place items on the conveyer belt to be checked out while a child is screaming in your ear. Not being one to ignore people who needed help, Minato began to place the items on the belt for her.

"Thank you." She nervously chuckled.

"Don't worry about it." Minato charmingly answered.

"So, back on the subject..." Junpei muttered as he scanned the woman's items and placed them in bags. "Why does she want us to go over there all of a sudden?"

Minato shrugged his shoulders. "Your guess is as good as mine." He replied, moving to the other end of the station to put the bags in her cart.

"We didn't do anything bad, did we? I don't think I can survive another execution." Junpei stated. Both the boys shivered at the thought of their last execution.

"She didn't sound mad..." Minato muttered assuringly.

"Yeah but..." Junpei's voice trailed off as he finished ringing up the woman and she exited the grocery store. Another woman began to put her things on the belt. "You know how girls are. They say one thing and mean another. To top it all off, Mitsuru's a business woman! She has to mask her feelings all the time!" Junpei commented.

"Haha! Since when did you become an expert on girls?" A familiar voice questioned. Junpei and Minato looked over at the woman who was placing items on the conveyer belt and saw that it was Yukari Takeba.

"Everyone knows that! It's common knowledge!" Junpei replied.

Yukari smiled at Minato, who smiled back at her. "So...What are you doing here?" She asked, seeing that the male wasn't holding any groceries.

"Oh, nothing really. Just stalking my girlfriend." He jokingly answered.

Yukari giggled at his comment. "Creepy." She teased.

"Um, hello? I'm still here." Junpei commented, feeling the need to assert his presence to the duo.

"We didn't forget about you." Minato replied with a small smile.

"How could we?" Yukari added, Minato chuckling with her.

"I swear, sometimes I think that you two lovebirds forget all about poor old Junpei when you get together." Junpei commented, scanning the last of her items.

"Aww...Is Junpei's jealously kicking in again?" Yukari teasingly questioned.

"Nah. I'm over it." He stated. "We're cool from now on." Minato nodded in confirmation.

Yukari smiled gently. "You guys are so close...Like brothers."

"Which one is the older brother?" Junpei questioned as he placed her bagged groceries in her cart, now interested in Yukari's opinion.

"Hmm..." She looked at the two boys in thought, although it didn't take much time for her to decide who was more mature. "Minato." She simply answered, grabbing the cart full of groceries. "Anyways, I'll see you guys later." She stated with a smile as she pushed the cart out into the parking lot.

"See ya." Minato called back, waving at the girl.

Junpei smiled at Minato. "Alright then, Big Bro, let's go." Junpei teasingly said. Although it was Junpei and he usually did see him as a little brother, it gave Minato chills hearing him call him Big Bro.


	5. Chapter 5: Akihiko

Akihiko reorganized a stack of papers on his desk for about the fifth time and finally placed them in his desk. For some reason, the male was restless. He needed something to do. Anything.

Just then, his subordinate entered the room. Akihiko's face lit up, hoping that it was a new case. The police station was quiet today. It seemed like no one was out doing criminal things. Of course, that was a good thing; peace and all that good stuff. However, he desperately wanted something to do. In fact, he was so desperate that the thought of actually going out and performing a crime came into his head a few times.

Of course, Akihiko would never actually do anything like that, but the thought did occur to him a couple of times. "Um...Mr. Sanada...?" His subordinate quietly called, as if he hasn't gained Akihiko's attention already by opening the door to his office.

"Yes?" He replied.

"Um...Two guys downstairs said that they wanted to talk to you." He nervously stated.

Akihiko sighed, disappointed that he wasn't presented with a new case like he had hoped. "Do one of the guys have blue hair?" Akihiko questioned. His subordinate nodded his head. "Is the other one wearing a hat?" He nodded again. "Alright. Let them in." He commanded.

Junpei was the first to enter Akihiko's office a few moments later. Junpei walked around and examined his surroundings as Akihiko patiently waited for Junpei to speak. "Your office isn't as big as I thought it'd be." Junpei muttered.

"I don't need a big office since I'm usually out on a case instead of being stuck in here." Akihiko replied.

Junpei shrugged his shoulders. "I'd still want a big office." He commented to the chief of police.

"Where's Minato?" He asked.

"Oh. I think some girl started talking to him while we were in the hallway." Junpei responded.

"Of course." Akihiko commented with a smile. The girls at the station fawned over Akihiko all the time. It wasn't too surprising to him to hear that they would want to speak with someone with as much charm as Minato. "Why did you guys come here?" Akihiko questioned.

"So get this...Mitsuru Kirijo called Minato this morning." Junpei stated like he was spreading around some weird rumor.

"She called him?" Akihiko questioned, surprised that she hadn't called himself.

"Yep. Shocking, huh?" Junpei knew that Akihiko and Mitsuru had been working on a few cases together and was also surprised that she called Minato instead of Akihiko.

"That's strange..." Akihiko grumbled quietly.

"Ooh. Did I hear some jealousy in there? Is Akihiko Sanada actually jealous of Minato Arisato?" Junpei teasingly questioned.

"Of course not." Akihiko blandly stated. Junpei grinned happily. It was a look that Akihiko knew all too well. It meant that Junpei was either about to say something stupid, or perverted. "What are you smiling at?" Akihiko questioned.

"...Nothing." Junpei simply replied, the same smirk still painted on his face.

Akihiko crossed his arms, about to command him to stop smiling, but he was interrupted by the sound of his office door opening.

"Hey, Minato! What's been keeping you, buddy?" Junpei questioned. The boy nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.

"The girl in the hallway wouldn't stop talking to me." Minato answered blandly.

"How'd you get away from her?" Akihiko questioned in his curious, gravelly voice.

"I told her I had to use the bathroom." He replied.

"She didn't try to follow you?" Junpei questioned.

"She tried to, but I told her that I wanted to go by myself and she left me alone." Minato muttered.

"I'm surprised Yukari doesn't get mad at you for stuff like that." Akihiko commented, referring to the male's charming flirty actions towards other women.

Minato shrugged his shoulders. "She does the same thing. As long as we don't do anything intimate with anyone else, we're both fine with it. Plus, I tried to tell her I had a girlfriend. She wouldn't listen." Minato said.

"You are one lucky dude." Junpei muttered, knowing that pretty much any other girl would yell at him for flirting like that.

"I know." Minato simply replied. "So, are we going to Mitsuru's house or are we going to sit here and talk about my luck all day?"


	6. Chapter 6: The Plan

Mitsuru's mansion was huge, and very out of place in the small town. It was very rare to see a mansion in Inaba and her's was very hard to miss. It had the Kirijo Group symbol on it, marking it as one of Mitsuru's many mansions. Amazingly, the humungous mansion was even larger on the inside. If it wasn't for the butler escorting them to Mitsuru, they would be wandering aimlessly around her mansion for days. The trio tried their best to stay close to the butler without impending his personal space, just to make sure that they didn't get lost.

Eventually, the butler gestured to a door, telling the males that Mitsuru was behind the door. Minato opened the door slowly, peeking in through the crack before entering the large room with a table in the center. Junpei and Akihiko also walked into the room, examining their surroundings.

"Good. You're here." Mitsuru simply greeted from the other side of the room. Mitsuru looked about the same as how he remembered her, to Minato's surprise. She even sounded the same.

When Mitsuru looked at her old friends, however, she saw different people. They looked more mature in a way. Even Junpei looked like he had matured over the years they hadn't spoken. "Mitsuru! How's it going?" Junpei questioned.

"Um...Okay, I guess." Mitsuru replied, giggling slightly.

Akihiko smiled at the sound of her laughter. He had made more contact with her over the years than Junpei and Minato had. Mitsuru often called him to help her on missions that only herself and certain group of people could do. "Why'd you call us here, Mitsuru?" Akihiko questioned.

"Ah. Yes. Please take a seat." Mitsuru offered. The males sat down in chairs around the large table and Mitsuru sat on the end so they could see her easily while she spoke. "I'm sure that you've heard of the serial kidnapping case, correct?" Mitsuru questioned.

"The case where one person went missing every month?" Minato questioned. Mitsuru nodded.

The kidnapping case was the talk of the town for a while. It was on the front page of every newspaper and rolled off of everyone's tongue. It was impossible to find one person in Inaba who hadn't heard of the serial kidnappings. In a small, quiet town like Inaba it was hard not to get interested in the sudden criminal events.

It started about five years ago. A young adult woman disappeared in the middle of the day without a trace. The only thing the police could conclude was that she had been taken by someone in a black car. Naturally, the town was shaken up by the incident. Some people were too afraid to even step outside. Then, a month later, when everything calmed down again, a man was taken by the same black car in the middle of the day. The police were stumped and the town spread gossip like peanut butter on a sandwich. The case was all they seemed to be able to talk about. Then, it kept happening. Every month, someone would disappear and the black car with no license plate and tinted windows would be seen by witnesses near the scene of the disappearances.

"Yes. People of different ages, background, gender, and appearance were disappearing." Mitsuru added. "The police never found any connections between the disappeared because they were all completely different from each other."

"Yeah but..." Junpei muttered quietly. "...Didn't the police solve that case a few months ago? Why bring that up?" Junpei asked.

"The police did find one of the kidnappers, but they gave up on the case before they could find and capture the other kidnappers or find the captured. They told the public that the victims were found deceased." Mitsuru explained.

"Wait. So, there's more than one kidnapper?" Minato questioned.

"Yes. Think about it, how could one man manage to kidnap one person every month without leaving behind a single lead for the police?" Mitsuru questioned. "Such a thing is impossible for one man." She added.

"That makes sense." Akihiko muttered. Minato glanced at the police chief's inquiring expression. Akihiko didn't know about the case's details? Wasn't he the chief?

Then he remembered. Akihiko was never placed on the case. Akihiko had just recently been promoted to the chief of police. Before that, he was helping Mitsuru with other matters. He was just as informed about the kidnappings as Minato and Junpei were.

"...But if there is still a group of kidnappers out there and the police had given up..." Minato mumbled quietly, putting two and two together.

"Exactly. The kidnapping is still occurring, the police are just ignoring it. However, the Kirijo Group has taken the case into their own hands. I am also lead to believe that the disappeared are still alive. " Mitsuru explained.

"Where do we come into this?" Junpei asked.

"I've managed to find where I think their base is. There's an old abandoned military base out in the middle of nowhere. I'm planning to raid it tonight. I was hoping that you three would be willing to assist me." She offered.

"What exactly would we be doing...?" Junpei quietly questioned.

"Well...Since Akihiko is the chief of police, I'm sure that he could assist the others when they barge into the base to restrain any kidnappers and rescue the kidnapped." She stated.

"I'll help." Akihiko replied.

"Iori, since you love to crack jokes and you are an easygoing man, I was hoping that you would comfort the kidnapped as we rescue them." Mitsuru explained.

"As long as I don't get shot at, I'll help." Junpei jokingly responded.

"...And Arisato." Mitsuru started. Minato looked as composed as usual. Not showing a single emotion to the redhead. "You are both a charismatic and strong leader. I want you to be my co-leader on this operation." Mitsuru finished.

"Like...Your right hand man, basically?" Minato questioned. Mitsuru nodded in agreement. "What exactly would I do?" He asked.

"Go wherever you are needed, make sure that everyone is doing the right thing, things of that nature." Mitsuru explained in more detail.

"Alright. I'll help too." Minato answered.

Mitsuru smiled. "Thank you. All of you. I can't do this without any of you." She stated. The three males smiled in response, knowing that she was being honest while in the back of their minds, they prepared their thoughts for the raid that would commence that night. A feeling of nostalgia filled the room. Minato would once again be leading his friends to victory and saving the day, just like old times.


End file.
